


In the Dark

by comalard



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Meowrails, Moirails
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-03
Updated: 2013-04-24
Packaged: 2017-11-28 00:53:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/668410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comalard/pseuds/comalard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The scenes from the end of Seek the Highblood would have gone differently if Nepeta had been struck down first</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

            Green pools on the floor, next to spatters of deep blue. Nepeta’s soft head lies resting peacefully in the middle of the puddle. But her eyes aren’t so peaceful. Even glassy and staring, they shine with the same fear she felt in her last moments.

            _Why hadn’t she stayed hidden?_  You ask yourself. _Why couldn’t she have just done what you told her to do? How could you let this happen to her?_

            A comically oversized shoe prods her corpse, and a lilting, low chuckle comes from the troll who owns it. Gamzee looks at you from your dead moirail’s corpse, slouching awkwardly, as though he has no spine. His eyes are red, and make him look like a demon with his smudged face paint.

            “I almost feel bad for her,” he says to you, as though it were a joke. “I thought she’d be dead after the first five hits.” You can only stare back at him in horror, sweating like a sieve. “Oh well, I’ve been known to miss. It’s nothing she didn’t deserve.” He says it like a joke.

            “Excuse me,” you stammer. Why are you being cordial? “Excuse me, highblood, but…” his face is suddenly holding an impatient glare that makes you swallow hard. “Why did she deserve to die?”

            _“Because!”_ he roars at you suddenly, as though it were the obvious answer. You shrink back a little. “She’s lower than me. _All_ of you motherfuckers are lower than me.” His glare is like a lance through you, and you avoid looking him in the eyes.

            “But, I don’t see.” You complain quietly. “I don’t see why she had to be struck down, in the method that you did. Or at all.” Your tone is apologetic. But Gamzee is suddenly laughing again, and you dare to look up.

            “Didn’t you see? She motherfucking attacked me. That’s the only reason I need, motherfucker.”

            “But she was defending me!” you say, louder than you realize. The grin on his face is gone once again.

            “So?” he asks quietly. “We engaged in combat, and she fell. She lost. I can motherfucking not make it any simpler than that, bro.” his tone is quiet. “What happened to you? Since when did you ever question my motherfucking wisdom? Since when did I ever give you _permission_ to judge my wisdom?”

            You lower your eyes. Not out of respect, but out of fear. The caste system you have had faith in for all these years is failing logic. Nepeta is dead, slaughtered by the highblood you’re supposed to worship. And you let it happen. For once, you don’t know what to do. And it scares you.

            Gamzee shrugs, a club in each hand, and sighs. “I guess I’ll have to punish you as well, for your motherfucking transgressions. Stay right there for a moment.” He sets a green-coated club down in the puddle, next to Nepeta’s body. His hand strokes her head once, then grasps her blue hat.

            And you suddenly lose it.

            The next few moments are a blur to you: An indistinguishable bellow, Gamzee’s surprised yelp, the snapping of bone, the tearing of flesh, a snarl made from pain, a club splintering in your hand, and an indescribable rage coursing through you.

            You find yourself holding Nepeta’s corpse, sobbing in a very undignified manner. You don’t care. You couldn’t fathom why you would care. You went against something you based your entire life around. You fought the troll you were supposed to be willing to lay down your life to. And all of it for dear, sweet Nepeta. And you don’t even have her now. Everything you hold dear to you has been ripped from you in only a few moments. You have nothing.

            You feel as though something inside you snaps. You are a broken troll. You have nothing anymore. You ARE nothing anymore. You are Void. And it hurts.

            Everything fades to black as you cradle her gentle face in the dark, your tears staining it blue.

            


	2. A Lurking Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even when she's post-mortem, Equius is still the best moirail to Nepeta.

                A lone troll staggers into the room, bleeding from the gut. She’s tied a long piece of cloth around herself to staunch the seepage. Her skin illuminates the room, an unnatural shining white. Her eyes are feral, shifting as they survey the room.

                As wild as she seems, she is taken aback when her light illuminates the scene: an obliterated wall, a bow, a long curving horn impaled in the floor, and your unconscious form holding a body. And blood, so much blood. It was the smell of the blood that lead her to this room, and it is the smell of blood that pulls her forward again. Her hunger is greater than her fear.

                She approaches you and your deceased moirail. There is a trail of green leading from the middle of the room to where you are propped up against the wall. You are cradling her body in your arms and in your lap, your face bent over hers. Trails of blue stains run down your cheeks, still wet. Dried blood is smeared on your knuckles, a purple paste atop your black gloves.

                The female troll looks over her shoulder at the rest of the room nervously. The hole in the wall has flecks of purple around it, like confetti. In the next room, she sees “honk” written on the wall in the same purple, and shudders. She turns her attention back to you.

                She does not like what she is about to do.

                She brings her lips close to your neck, her mouth suddenly salivating. She tries once to break your skin gingerly with her fangs. It is almost apologetic, but it doesn’t work. She pulls back, the taste of sweat on her tongue. It makes her frustrated, and she tries again, this time with more force. The fangs sink under your skin.

                Her eyes dilate as she begins sucking. It’s much easier than with Feferi; your still-beating heart pushes more blood into her mouth. She cradles your head away from her, as to elongate your neck.

                It is several minutes before she detaches. She listens a moment to your breathing, concerned she took too much. But your breathing is rhythmic, the rise and fall of your chest steady. She breathes a sigh of relief, and then looks down. Her stomach turns.

                Trolls are used to blood and violence, it is familiar territory to all. But Nepeta’s lifeless form is something else entirely. It is a destruction of innocence, a flower with its petals singed off. She can’t stare too long at her head, it’s too…misshapen. The most she can bear to look at is the blood.

                The flow has ebbed with her heart’s lack of beating, and you sit in a pool of green. The female troll can’t bring herself to look away from the pool. Her eyes dilate once more, but this time they focus on Nepeta’s corpse. She can’t help it; she’s compelled to draw in closer to Nepeta’s neck, and-

                She doesn’t have any time to react, even with her now unreasonably fast reflexes. Your backhanded swing launches her across the room. She at least lands on her feet, but she clutches at her gut, where your arm snagged her. Her eyes lock onto your’s, her ferocity and pain and fear meeting your’s.

                You don’t know what’s going on. You are lightheaded, lead-limbed, and the room is spinning. But somebody tried to bring harm to Nepeta again.

                Anguish invades your eyes. _Again_. It all comes back to you: Gamzee’s clubs throwing sprays of green about, your horror as you saw the life snap from her crying eyes, the betrayal and loss you felt towards the system you revered your entire life, a deep pit of uselessness, and your rage. Without her, all the vicious fury she kept in check spilled out. You don’t remember thinking after that, the rest was a primal bloodlust that rang from your very core.

                You felt an echo of that terrible rage bubble forth when the obscenely bright troll put her hands on Nepeta again, but it has subsided now. You’re too weak to be angry, drained as you are. The troll across the room sees this, and stands up from her crouch. You hold a hand in front of your eyes and look through your fingers to see who it is.

                “K-Kanaya?” you venture breathlessly, suddenly very tired.

                Kanaya looks back at you, the menace in her eyes replaced by concern. “Equius, are you okay?” she asks. “What happened here?” You try to respond, but you can’t keep focus.

                “I was told… Karkat said you were…” your breathing is labored, it’s hard to talk. “How..?” is the most you can manage.

                Faster than you can keep up with, Kanaya rushes to your side as your head begins to loll. “Shh,” she says in her modulated voice. She holds your head up between her hands, and realizes your cheeks are wet. You’ve been crying since you woke up. “Do you remember what happened?”

                Your eyes are blurring, and you’re slipping towards unconsciousness again. “G-amz-“ is all you’re able to manage before the darkness swallows you once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i could probably stand to go back over this with a fine brush comb, but hey look at me im terrible

**Author's Note:**

> for the sake of not making a big fuss, nepeta kept her hat  
> this was just a thing i was goofing around with, but ill make some more tweeks later  
> and maybe add some more?


End file.
